


the shattered tatters of a sane world

by Merefish



Category: The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms (Album), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, welcome to my first adventure in a multi-chapter fic in many years, yes this is a bifrost incident au i like to make myself sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23457103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merefish/pseuds/Merefish
Summary: The Bifrost Incident. Any schoolchild could tell you about it. The fall of the old order, two hundred years of Asgardian hubris come together in a single, epoch-defining event.orthere are parallels in many stories. this is the exploration into the parallels between two that might be closer than one might think at first glance.
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	1. Black Box

**Author's Note:**

> all titles from the bifrost incident. important note: passages that are only slightly edited from the original songs will be in italics. I cannot take credit for their amazing work, only take inspiration from it!

_The Bifrost Incident. Any schoolchild could tell you about it. The fall of the old order, two hundred years of Asgardian hubris come together in a single, epoch-defining event. The maiden voyage of a train through the stars, vanished without a trace. For decades it had been the Allmother’s passion, her long-sought legacy: shoot a locomotive through that man-made rainbow wormhole, reduce the time between worlds from three months to three days. All the tests had come through with quite literal flying colors and the train was deemed safe. And what a train it was: gilded with gold and swirls of bismuth mosaic. Every high-up, well-to-do, nose turning Asgardian hobnob signed up to that first trip, or risk the Allmother’s displeasure, so when it didn’t come out the other side, who was left to rule?_

_In the chaos that ensued, no one really thought to look into what actually happened to the train itself. And that’s where I come in, Inspector 2nd class Georgie Barker, New Midgard Transport Police. Because the Magnus Express has finally arrived in Midgard, 80 years late. All that’s left is the ruin of the engine room and a couple of twisted skeletons. And the black box. It’s as much a history project as an actual crime scene, but combing through the data still comes down to me._

_First recording is the Allmother’s launching speech. Almost a century ruling Asgard, you’d think she’d be a better public speaker, not rambling on about the glory of her pet science project, as if exporting quicker tyranny to Midgard was all she had ever dreamed of._

*

Georgie hit stop and took a deep breath. She took a drink of her tea and groaned into her hands, questioning once again every decision that had led to her being assigned this case. She didn’t usually hate her job. No, that’s not right, she usually could tolerate her job. She started out on the force bright eyed and bushy tailed just like every other newbie constable on their first day after training. Surprisingly it lasted longer than expected, but it did eventually fade into the monotony of routine. Transport Police didn’t usually have anything more exciting than an accident with some sort of celebrity, and when the chief inspector told her she was being assigned something high-profile she never dreamed she’d end up with the Magnus Express case. It was the type of case that conspiracy theorists and true crime fanatics salivated over, not something that actual officers investigated. But here she was, charred black box in an evidence bag on her desk next to improbably large stacks of files for how little they said.

Georgie had read and reread those files, trying to absorb as much information as possible before trying to decode the patchwork remnants of the black box. She had put it off with research and visiting the burnt out shell of the engine room and lunches with Melanie, but she knew she had to actually listen. Despite the odd feeling in her stomach that wasn’t quite anxiety or fear or even indigestion that had kept her putting off listening to the Allmother’s speech, the time had finally come. She adjusted her headphones and took another deep breath.

And she hit play.


	2. Odin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A speech is given and the train prepares for launch

It is a sunny day. A light breeze is blowing, sending the acrid smoke from the gleaming train out over the gathered crowd where it hung heavy and choking. The newly built station is bustling with everyone who was anyone waiting in the boarding area and everyone who wasn’t standing outside the fencing waiting to hear the AllMother speak.

Guards stood in crisp uniforms, the sunlight glinting off their freshly polished weapons, blinding those who paid too close attention. However, in Asgard just like the rest of the realms, the sight of soldiers was nothing out of the ordinary. How else was order to be maintained, especially after what had happened during the first test run? The crowds milled about, speaking in a low murmur that slowly grew as more and more people gathered for the momentous occasion.

As voices in the boarding area began to grow louder, asking when they would be boarding the train with polite words in a tone that was anything but, technicians began wrapping up their preparations on the hastily erected stage. The AllMother had announced merely days before that she was to be giving her launching speech at the station and so a stage was there where previously there had been nothing. And as the voices of the crowd grew loud enough that some of the guards began to shift uneasily, the heavy curtains that seemed to be salvaged from some old theatre opened and the AllMother began to speak.

The AllMother didn’t seem to be reading from a script, but that didn’t make the speech any shorter. She spoke of dawning science and reaching for eternity and cutting a rainbow swathe across the sky. Pretty metaphors about the train that shone like an oil slick, but nothing that should have evoked the fervor with which the AllMother spoke. 

As she wrapped up her speech, speaking of pushing forward and a new destiny, the members of the crowd shook off their fake attention they had plastered on and began to once again push for the train. Most of them didn’t think it was a new destiny they were walking towards, but they couldn’t deny the shortened travel time from months to days could change their worlds. Or perhaps one specific world, Midgard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience with the long break between updates! I know this chapter is a short one, but I already have part of the next one written and it picks up a bit.
> 
> catch me being emotional over tma and the mechs @withholdingfrombeholding on tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> chapter one is a short start to our journey, but more is soon to come. come visit me @withholdingfrombeholding on tumblr to yell about tma or the mechs!


End file.
